040. Forest After the Rain (Forres)
The report that a staff of the globally influential Fixers Guild was the mastermind behind the goblin riot ― and that he was involved in a crime of such magnitude as to cause numerous victims were more than enough to stir up the whole of Hanaria.
Moreover, when it was General Jean, a popular figure among the people, who had uncovered the full extent of the incident, and had narrowly prevented the destruction of a town, it was impossible to stop people from gossiping about it, and even now, several days later, the topic was still a hot topic.
Meanwhile, as for me
「Say, Yuuto. Would you reconsider?」
At breakfast. Jean, sitting in front of me in plain clothes, stares at me and talks to me.
「For some reason, they think that I was the one who solved the whole fiasco, but the truth is different. It would have been impossible without Yuuto's help, and in the first place, you sent the letter to Hannah in secret because you sensed the danger of being attacked by goblins and were suspicious of that man, right?」
「That's true, but―I didn't hear or expect General Jean to come in with your men, you know? I mean, from the way you're saying――Could it be」
「Yeah. Hannah and I have been close friends since we were little. Although we have different positions in the military and the guild, we are still in close contact with each other.」
「I see. That's what I thought.」
So, it is highly likely that Hannah knew about "my secret" from the very beginning.
「My accomplishments are meager. You are the one who should be praised by many. Above all, your ability and the rate of growth you showed in that battle were remarkable. I would love to have you in my army.」
「I refuse.」
I forcefully broke off the conversation.
「How many times have you told me this? I was only doing what I could as "just a fixer," and Jean was the one who took down the main culprit, Rodl, isn't she? Plus, if you're in the military, you must know me pretty well. I know there were a lot of circumstances and whatnot, but don't tell me you've forgotten what the higher-ups at Hanaria did to me.」
I said, and Jean let out a small, "Ugh".
「Well, it's unreasonable to blame Jean for that, so I'll leave it at that, but I'm a 'fixer' and I have no intention of belonging to the military. In addition, I don't intend to receive excessive remuneration. I am already being paid enough by the Guild.」
The day after the incident.
The Hanaria branch notified me that it was "approving Yuuto Orihara as 'E-rank'" and a large amount of compensation was transferred to my account along with it.
The Karguri branch is now rapidly rebuilding and taking measures to prevent a reoccurrence, and it seems that the upper management of Hanaria does not intend to excessively blame the Guild.
The "backroom deals" have already been concluded, and a new branch manager has been appointed.
In addition, the goblins' behavior had visibly calmed down, probably due to the defeat of Rodl, who was also the Goblin King.
However, since there are still so many of them, more and more people are trying to make a name for themselves by defeating them, and more and more people and merchants who are sent to work on reconstruction are visiting the area. Karguri is now regaining its former calm and lively atmosphere.
「In any case, the military should now be able to concentrate its forces in the eastern part of the country, in the direction of the "Great Sea of Trees. How are things going over there?」
「Thanks to you, we've been able to prepare our forces quite well. In addition, I hear that the movements of the demonic beasts have slightly subsided. However, I am not optimistic about the situation and we must continue to be vigilant.」
「.......I think we're both in a period of preparation for the "next" one.」
Jean affirmed my words with her eyes alone.
「Jean is a sort of a general, too, right? How long do you plan to stay in Karguri?」(?)
「What do you mean with that sort of!? Even so, I still have a lot of work to do, and it would be bad if I don't return to Hanaria in the evening.」(?)
「What? In the evening? Can you come back in such a short time?」
Said Osada-kun, who was eating a fried egg with plenty of pepper sprinkled on it.
「There are people in my unit who can use [Transfer]. It's easy for a small group of people to come and go.」
When she said that, I was a little excited and said, "Transfer!?".
「Isn't that a super-high-difficulty folia that allows you to move to your destination in an instant!?」
When I said this with a twinkle in my eye, Jean, perhaps a little overwhelmed as expected, replied with a puzzled look on her face, "W-Well, yeah..."
「What are you going to do now?」
「We have a lot of things to do. I'm planning to return to Hanaria soon, though.」
「――Rumor has it that you are investigating the ruins?」
Jean asked me with a lowered tone of voice, but I affirmed it because it was nothing that I was hiding.
「Osada-kun is a treasure hunter, you see, and I myself am intrigued by the term "ruins exploration".」
「But it seems that the military, which was investigating the site earlier, has confiscated the treasures and other valuable items.」
At the mention of sarcasm, Jean blatantly looks away, but...
「――I know your intentions are firm, and I have work to do, so I'll back off "for now," but there's one thing I really want you to accept.」
Jean then held out a small box that could fit in the palm of both of my hands.
「What is this?」
「It's called a "sealing box". Open it and take a look.」
I lifted the top lid as I was told, and what I found was――
「A reddish-black ...... crystal stone!」
「Yeah. It probably belonged to Rodl. I noticed it and picked it up when we were retreating after the subjugation――it was quite large and had a tremendous amount of force inside. It probably contains some of the force that was sucked out of the victims.」
「What are you going to do by showing us such a thing?」
I had a bad feeling about this, so I asked her.
「Take it. This is too much for me to handle.」
When I was told, I raised my voice, "I don't want it!", but...
「I can't concede on this one thing, let alone the others. Besides ― we have our own reasons. I'm willing to pay you a separate fee, and as long as you don't dispose of it poorly, you can do whatever you like with it, so I want you to take it.」
I was told something meaningful, and I looked into Jean's serious eyes and thought about it.
「Osada-kun. Can you store this?」
The safest and surest way is to have it stored in Osada-kun's [S-Dimensional Stomach], but I remembered that there is a restriction among several conditions that "his skill cannot swallow anything with too much force". Then.
「I can't swallow it as a crystal stone, but if it's in this box, there's no problem♪」
So we decided to accept it.
「I am sorry to impose on you something even more troublesome when you owe me so much. Someday surely――」
「Hmm? Hey, Osada-kun. Did we get anything?」
「Who knows? I was so engrossed in eating my meal that I didn't notice, though, right?」
When I confirmed that Osada-kun had swallowed the box, Osada-kun and I played dumb with each other, and Jean began to giggle.
「In any case, thanks for all your help. By the way, what are your plans after this?」
「I've got too much on my plate, and I've got some errands to run, so I'm going to take the day off.」
「I am as I am, I've got plans to play with the town's kids, too」
「I see. I'm really proud to have met you two. If you ever need help with anything, please don't hesitate to find me.」
Jean got up from her seat and left the store with her eye patch-wearing men who were waiting outside the store, and we went our separate ways to spend our holidays after paying.
※ Author Note: You may be thinking, 「Huh? Is it safe to mention [S-Dimensional Stomach] in front of Jean?」「Is it safe to swallow it?」「I thought you were keeping it a secret?」, We'll get to the details in due course.
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Tftc
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